While students across Bangladesh increasingly benefit from digital classrooms and multimedia-based learning, hundreds of children in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) continue to study without electricity.
An investigation by Dhaka Tribune found that 684 government primary schools across Bandarban, Rangamati, and Khagrachhari lack electricity and access to safe drinking water, keeping technology-driven education largely out of reach.
Officials from the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) said many students in the hill districts remain deprived of basic facilities such as electricity and safe water. As a result, they are unable to benefit from digital education. Teachers struggle to prepare lessons after sunset, while essential educational tools, including multimedia equipment, televisions, projectors, and charging facilities, remain unusable.
According to the DPE, there are 1,738 government primary schools across the three hill districts, of which 684 still lack electricity and safe drinking water facilities.
Tangkabati Union, located about 26 kilometres from Bandarban Sadar upazila, is home primarily to members of the Mro indigenous community. Although education has reached these remote areas, most primary schools remain without electricity. Consequently, students rely solely on daylight for learning, unlike their peers in the plains who increasingly have access to digital educational tools.
According to the 2021 Population Census, the literacy rate in Tangkabati Union is 55.1%. The union has two junior secondary schools, seven government primary schools, 12 community primary schools, and 23 learning centres—none of which have electricity.
The seven government primary schools are Alinagar Government Primary School, Tangkabati Government Primary School, Brick Field Bazar Para Government Primary School, Bhaitta Para Government Primary School, Romju Para Government Primary School, Hatir Dera Government Primary School, and Ramri Para Government Primary School.
The investigation also found that many schools in Lama, Alikadam, Naikhongchhari, Rowangchhari, Ruma, and Thanchi upazilas of Bandarban remain without electricity. Similar conditions prevail in Rangamati and Khagrachhari. The three hill districts also face a severe shortage of safe drinking water.
Nayapara Union, located just two and a half kilometres from Alikadam upazila town, is home to around 80 families from the Tanchangya and Mro communities living in Jogendra Karbari Para, Ronemen Karbari Para, and Basudev Para. A government primary school serves local children, but despite access to education, residents continue to live without electricity.
Locals said the three neighbouring villages have long awaited electricity connections. In 2019, the Local Government Engineering Department constructed a carpeted road up to Jogendra Karbari Para, bringing several services to the area. However, electricity has yet to arrive. As a result, both living standards and educational opportunities remain limited.
Yongpe Mro, a resident of Basudev Para, said: “Although development has reached our area, we still suffer greatly due to the lack of electricity. Our children face difficulties studying. At night, we have to rely on flashlights or candles for daily activities. It is impossible to fully describe the hardships of living without electricity in modern times.”
What teachers, students, and residents say
On May 6, at around 10am, a visit to Bhaitta Para Government Primary School in the Chimbuk Hills of Tangkabati Union found students attending classes in one room while examinations were being held in another. The school has neither electricity nor a digital classroom.
Students from Mirza Para, Bagan Para, Mendui Para, Garjan Para, and Babu Para attend the school regularly.
Ruwai Mro, head teacher of Bhaitta Para Government Primary School, told Dhaka Tribune that daylight is their only source of illumination for teaching.
“Students are being left behind in this age of technology because there is no electricity,” he said.
“Although reports highlighting the challenges of education in the hills have been published before, little improvement has been seen.”
He added that the lack of safe drinking water in most schools increases health risks for students, negatively affecting attendance and learning outcomes. Water is often collected from nearby streams and filtered before being supplied to children.
Sunai Mro, a fourth-grade student at the school, said many students fall ill during extreme heat because there is no electricity. Teaching and learning are also disrupted during storms and heavy rain.
“For us, having a digital classroom is still a dream,” the student said.
Students in Khagrachhari and Rangamati reported facing similar challenges and expressed a desire for digital classrooms.
Paring Mro, headman of Mouza No. 309 South Hangor in Chimbuk, Tangkabati, Bandarban, said: “Our children are falling behind because there is no electricity. They cannot access information from across the country and the world. This is an isolated region where residents are deprived of many basic services, and children suffer the consequences as well.”
He urged the government to ensure electricity and safe drinking water in remote hill communities.
What officials say
Alikadam Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Monjur Alam told Dhaka Tribune that most schools in Chimbuk Hills, Lama, Thanchi, and Alikadam remain without electricity.
He said extending the national grid is difficult because these are remote mountainous areas with poor transportation links and sparse populations. In some villages, only 10 households live in scattered settlements.
He added that children study during daylight hours and rely on kerosene lamps after dark.
Deputy commissioners of the three hill districts acknowledged that most schools under their jurisdictions do not have electricity. They said efforts are underway to install solar panels in many areas, although digital classrooms remain beyond the reach of many students.
Bandarban Deputy Commissioner Md Saniul Ferdous said many areas, including Ruma, Thanchi, Rowangchhari, Chimbuk Hills, and Alikadam, remain outside electricity coverage.
He noted that establishing national grid connections in remote hill areas is extremely challenging. Some villages can still only be reached by crossing rivers by boat. As a result, children in these regions lag behind their peers in the plains.
He emphasized that providing electricity to these areas would significantly contribute to the country's overall development.
Bandarban District Education Officer Mohammad Jasim Uddin also said schools in remote hill areas continue to operate without electricity, leaving students at a disadvantage in an increasingly technology-driven world.
He said teachers are unable to participate in online training or complete work after sunset because of the lack of power.
The education officer also highlighted the severe shortage of safe drinking water in schools. Water often has to be collected from streams and filtered before being provided to students. Due to water scarcity and inadequate access to safe water, many children suffer from waterborne diseases.
According to him, some areas have received solar power systems through private initiatives and NGOs. The government also plans to expand electricity access to these regions, and work is already underway in several upazilas.
Stakeholders believe that ensuring electricity and safe drinking water in remote hill schools would improve students’ health, concentration, attendance, and overall learning outcomes, while helping bridge the educational gap between children in the hills and those in the plains.
